The Dark Secret of Krakis
by MobiObi
Summary: Obi Wan about 13 discovers something lurking on the planet Krakis
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just playing in the SW universe.

Summary: Obi finds out the hard way why street kids are going missing on the planet Krakis. Just an adventure type story. Reviews welcome.

**The Dark Secret of Krakis**

**Chapter 1**

Kenobi wasn't sure if it was the food they'd had aboard ship last night or the bad dreams he'd had on the trip there, but the planet Krakis just didn't make him feel well. He'd never been to the planet before but he recognized fear when he sensed it. Below the surface and mostly hidden, but it was there. So why didn't Qui Gon sense it?

"I know you don't feel it, Master, but it's there, they fear something, they just won't mention what it is." Kenobi looked out at the forest surface. The rain was thundering down around them, but the house covering protected them. Qui Gon placed his hand on Kenobi's shoulder.

"You're sensing their fears about their lives and this land dispute. Our presence scares them because it brings change and uncertain compromise."

"No, Master, please, it's not that, it's something else, something deeper. We need to investigate this further; it may have something to do with their reluctance to move their boundaries. Let me find out more about that forest."

"We've checked through it, we've scanned the entire surface and no one has mentioned anything, not even in passing thoughts to me."

"I don't understand why I know about this; why I see this more clearly than you, but I truly believe we have to investigate." This was usually the sort of thing that Qui Gon was really good at spotting, so why wasn't he listening to me, Kenobi thought.

"If you feel this is something you must do then go. I will not need you until the banquet this evening."

Qui Gon looked out over the forest. He just couldn't understand Kenobi's feelings in this matter and it disturbed him. His student was perceptive, but this was unusual for him to see something that Qui Gon believed wasn't there. He turned to his student as he bowed and left. It couldn't hurt to have him occupy his time with this investigation; after all he needed to practice his link to the living force.

Kenobi knew exactly where he wanted to go. Vena was waiting for him at their pre-arranged place. She and her brother had befriended the padawan on their arrival and alerted him to the problem of the missing street kids from their neighbourhood. She ushered him into the alcove and pressed her hand to his mouth as he was about to speak.

"No time. Dew has gone. He left before I could stop him."

Kenobi removed her hand and nodded his head.

"I felt a change earlier. I've been feeling ill ever since this afternoon's meal."

"We should head out now before it's too late."

She moved off and Kenobi laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I go alone, this it not something we can waste both of us on. If I disappear you're the only one left who believes this stuff. You have to convince the others. My Master will help."

"No, Dew is my brother, I go and you stay."

"Where is the sense in that? I have skills that can guide and protect me. I can't let you go on your own, so I will go and you will stay."

Vena looked thoughtfully at him for a moment and then conceded to his point of view. "Fine," she said, "Take this." and she placed a com link in his hand. "It will work through the forest and beyond, if needed. Keep it open, I think you'll need it."

Kenobi nodded and placed the device in his belt. He hooked his robes around himself as the rain beat down. He moved to his speeder bike and flipped it on, shooting through the town to the forest edge.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kenobi's senses told him to fly straight ahead through the dense forest. Blinded by the rain, he let his affinity to the force guide his movements on the bike as it spun and skimmed across the uneven forest floor. The sick feeling returned to his stomach and he slowed the bike, peering through the misty rain.

As the rain eased, he could see a clearing ahead of him. He brought the speeder to rest in the clearing and looked around. This wasn't the epicentre but something had happened there recently, he could feel the ripples in the force that seemed to shift around him, swirling up and confusing his senses. He closed his eyes and concentrated, controlling his emotions and calming his senses. He opened his eyes again and looked around.

The soil was dead, nothing grew here. The only thing able to grasp any life from the ground was long yellow grass that reached up to Kenobi's knees. He knelt down and picked a blade of the grass. It barely registered as having living force and Kenobi let it drop to the ground as he raised himself up again. Looking around he saw the forest surrounding him. He stretched out with his feelings towards the tree. They shivered at his presence, rustling their leaves as the rain stopped. He felt them tremble and shift, as if trying to get away from their rooted positions.

Suddenly the ground shifted beneath him and his instincts told him to leap out of the way as a great gash appeared in the ground where he had stood. It cracked the ground around where he had landed and he leapt again, this time for the hovering bike. He was just able to reach the seat in time before the gaping hole grew to where he had leapt from. He started the motor, swung it around to head back to town and went to grab the com link, but the engine spluttered and lurched forward, almost tossing him over the handle bars and he lost the com link as he grabbed onto the bike, which thudded into the forest floor. The hole stretched greedily to him so he stood on the bike and made a desperate jump for the relative safety of the trees, but the guiding force of the ground was too fast. He fell into the black cold darkness. Above him the ground sealed itself, the bike and any remains of Kenobi's presence gone from the scene.

Kenobi landed badly on the tunnel floor. He raised himself into a sitting position, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light. He rubbed his sore leg and bruised arm soothing them in the gloom. He looked around and saw the bike buried in rubble behind him. He got to his feet and brushed the dust from his robes. He took his sabre from his belt and ignited it, using it to light his path as he made his way down the corridor.

He decided it would be a good idea to contact Qui Gon, especially since he had lost the com link, and he reached out to his mentor through their innate link. A sudden dizziness filled him as he felt the flow of the force diverted further into the tunnel ahead of him. A rushing sensation pulled the force flow through him, dragging him to his knees with its ferocity. This was powerful and draining and he tried to sever his link, closing his mind to outside influences and concentrating his thoughts internally, focusing on his breathing, the air passing into his lungs and then out again in a smooth calming rhythm.

His head cleared and he could control his body again, rising to his feet. He steadied himself against the tunnel wall, his limbs aching from the exertion, his joints throbbing.

With his senses dimmed, Kenobi only came aware of the footsteps behind him when they were almost on top of him. He raised his blade and swung round defensively, the light from the sword illuminating a pale face that took Obi Wan a few moments to recognise.

"Dew? Is that you? Are you alright?"

The figure gave no answer and raised his right arm, a blaster held in his small grey skinned hand.

"Dew, it's Obi Wan, I met you and your sister, Vena, two days ago. She's very worried about you." He remained in his defensive position but moved to lay a hand on Dew's shoulder.

A shiver of cold rushed up Kenobi's arm and he removed his hand from the boys shoulder. It was then that he truly noticed Dew's eyes. They were a dark, dull silver, the whole eye was this frosted shade, no pupil was visible. Opening his mind to the general flow of the force, but not using it, Kenobi let the life force of the forest flow with him. Dew's presence was completely invisible; it was as if he wasn't there at all.

"What can have happened to you, Dew?"

The boy's mouth opened wide and a scream blasted into Kenobi's face. He dropped his blade and covered his ears which felt like they were being burned by the noise. It drove into his skull and reverberated in his brain. He had to make it stop. He leaned forward and head butted Dew, pushing him back against the opposite wall. The sound intensified, drilling through the Jedi's body, forcing him to the ground to try to get away. Still covering his ears Kenobi looked up at Dew who had recovered and stood above the stricken padawan. As Dew raised the blaster to strike down at Kenobi, dark tears leaked from his eyes and the sound faltered.

Kenobi rolled away from the figure and found he could release his hands from his ears. He reached out for his sword and felt the dizzying sensation sweep over him again. He quickly stopped his use of the force and fumbled around on the ground for his weapon. Behind him Dew stepped from the tunnel wall towards Kenobi, the crying building again.

Kenobi suddenly swung round and up to deal a swift blow to Dew's jaw, sending him to the tunnel floor. This distracted Kenobi to the figure emerging from down the tunnel whose heavy shovel slammed down on Kenobi's back sending him sprawling. Kenobi tried to raise himself into a sitting position, but another savage blow sent a black cloud over his thoughts and all movement ceased from the young Jedi.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Qui Gon was becoming agitated by the lack of information. It had been a whole day since Kenobi had gone missing and everyone was keeping very quiet, disturbingly so. Qui Gon had reached out using their link, trying to find his padawan, but the only thing he did sense was fear and isolation a feeling of loss. His location was being shielded somehow and nothing Qui Gon did was enough to break through the barrier.

And now Vena had gone missing. She had been most helpful at first, concerned for her brother and then Kenobi. She had come to him the day before and explained that the com link she had with him died suddenly. Qui Gon had even gone to the forest and found a clearing that had unusually cold properties. He realized the forest was fearful of something, but Qui Gon couldn't understand what it was. Now, back in the city, no one had news of Vena or Kenobi, but a change had come over them all. Qui Gon sensed a great deception had been created in these peoples' lives, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

He sat down on the room floor and crossed his legs, breathing deeply focusing on his thoughts. Once again he reached out to Kenobi. There was nothing. A cold feeling swept through Qui Gon his breath feeling like ice. He shook closed the link, a great pain of loss flooding through him. It couldn't be true, Kenobi wasn't dead, that wasn't right. He slowed his breathing again and focused his mind this time searching more deeply, searching for the familiar flow of life force to his padawan. It was pale, cold and fearful, but the flow was there. Qui Gon followed the flow out to the forest with his mind. Strongly it swept and spread out over the forest filling Qui Gon's mind with the whole expanse of land. The town was quickly included within his field of view. He suddenly felt his mind pulled down through the ground. A wall of icy darkness blocked his way, pushing him out of his trance, bringing him back to the small guest room.

This wasn't getting him anywhere. At least he had determined Kenobi was still alive somewhere, his life force weak but still flowing. Qui Gon decided on a different tack. He once again concentrated on the flow of the force, but this time his target was Vena. The girl had a strong affinity with the force, it wouldn't be too difficult to locate her position. He breathed deeply and calmly, letting the force guide his thoughts. The council building loomed large ahead of him and once again he found himself racing through the floor to the basement level. He located Vena, her mind full of fear and concern. She was in a small cell below the main meeting hall. He could see the route he'd need to take to get to her. He let the picture expand. There were others down there, fear emanating from them all. He moved over them sending out a broadcast of reassurance, of comfort. From the far end of the cells he felt something pulling him. Realizing this sensation was the same as the one he experienced through his consciousness over the forest, he closed his link and snapped back to the guest room.

"Now, I begin to understand." He slowly raised himself up from his meditative position. Once on his feet he leapt from the room and raced to the council building.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kenobi's eyes flicked open and his head immediately started aching. He was lying on his back and could see the room around him lit by pale halo lights. The walls looked carved from rock. He raised himself onto his elbows and looked around more thoroughly. This was man-made, not any kind of natural formation as the tunnel had been. As he saw the two figures in front of him they turned to him and moved to his side. He could see their cold blank faces, grey skin and dark silver eyes. They reached down to pull him to his feet. Their strength was considerable as they forced Kenobi's arms behind him and pushed him out of the room. His head was clearing now and he sensed many more figures around him, all pale and cold looking, like the two who held him. He knew struggling would only drain his energy so he saved himself for the moment they would inevitably let go of him.

He was led past the figures; about fifteen of them altogether, all the same blanched skin and staring eyes. They looked in to the centre of the circular room Kenobi was being led around. A mass of coils and wires rose up from the floor; that was the first thing he noticed. Then as his eyes moved up the coils, they twisted into each other, bulging grotesquely like spilled out intestines, gleaming white silvery metal, the occasional shot of blue lightening rippling up through them. As the wires ascended further, a thick black haze seemed to envelope them, swirling and curling through them. Soon this black agitated mass was completely covering the metal surfaces of the cables and as Kenobi was moved round to a small platform the darkness took on the form of a face, two pale red eyes and an open space for a mouth formed in the inky mass.

Kenobi was brought to a stop on the platform and the face rushed down to him.

"Drama is the key," it hissed at the Jedi, "don't you think?" A claw like hand emerged from the side of the face and stroked at Kenobi's hair and cheek. The claw was like ice being scraped over his skin and Kenobi visibly shivered even though he was trying desperately to remain calm.

"You are strong, boy, stronger than these," the claw left his face and brushed at Dew who was close by, "but not so strong as to shield your nature."

The claw left Dew and plunged into Kenobi's chest.

This biting ice was intense and it took all of Kenobi's physical strength just to remain standing. He could feel the warmth of his body being pushed out to be overtaken by this outside force. He focused on his task, building a wall to push back with. It started slowly, but he found he could use the life force internally as a defense against this invasion and soon the tide was turning. He could feel the warmth returning to his limbs, forcing back the cold bite. The momentum grew, the force energy flowing through him, making him stronger, reaching its equilibrium once again.

Suddenly everything was wrong. He was no longer in control of the flow; it was rushing through him, uncontrolled, violent. He shut his mind off from the flow, trying to calm his senses, bringing his breathing under control. A sharp twisting pain in his chest told him the claw had been withdrawn.

Breathing heavily and feeling the perspiration role down his back he looked up at the creature whose red eyes glowed for an instant and then faded.

"Not good enough," it said and moved to Dew. "These I maintain to maintain me." It lifted itself up to fill the room and for an instant Kenobi saw the full machine writhing and pulsing beneath the black cloud it hung about itself.

"I must maintain. I need source. We all need source, without my source they cannot maintain." It caressed Dew's head and he fell stone dead to the floor. With a sudden surge of energy, Kenobi flung off his captures and raced to the fallen child, horrified at the callousness of this creature as it had stripped Dew of his young life.

"They cannot maintain me, I cannot maintain them." It looked up at the cavern ceiling and Kenobi realized where they were. The city was directly above them.

"I need flow of source. They provide well enough," it said, indicating the frozen children, "but you have control. Source is used by you; you know something of how it works. I find that valuable."

The claw reached out for Kenobi who dived out of the way.

"You use it now through instinct, not realizing how much power you truly control here."

The two captures moved to his position, but Kenobi leapt up to avoid them, trying to see a way out. But the only exits were blocked by the motionless figures. Perhaps another tack was needed.

"I can taste your movements, smell your thoughts through your actions. You have no options here. You will feed me my source."

"Not bloody likely!" Kenobi rolled down the cavern to the centre of the squirming wires. He lifted a stone, the nearest thing to hand and begun pounding on the wires. Sparks sprang up around him as wires became exposed and damaged.

"Interesting choice," the voice cooed. A cable shot out at the Jedi and he ducked out of the way. Soon more cables were quickly in pursuit of him as he dodged and rolled. Without realizing the consequences he was forced to open his mind to the flow of the force just to keep from getting hit by this onslaught.

With a sudden ferocity, the pulling of the force flow ripped through him, sending him to the cavern floor writhing in pain. The cables stopped pursuing him and the claw reached down and grabbed tightly around his neck, lifting him off the cavern floor up in front of the machine's glowing eyes.

"Now you see the inevitable role you play. You maintain me and I no longer need them, any of them."

The pulling sensation slowed just enough for Kenobi's vision to clear. All fifteen figures were now inert corpses lying about him. He screamed at the overwhelming sense of loss around him, which only seemed to help fuel the machine as the pulling increased, his whole body feeling squashed and squeezed as the living force around him was hauled through his system and into the monstrous machine.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Qui Gon swept passed the main guards to Chancellor Kavos' rooms and flung the door open. He could sense Vena and the darkness just below that very spot.

"What is the meaning of this, Master Qui Gon?"

The chancellor got no answer as the Jedi moved to the desk and flung it across the room. He moved to the Chancellors chair and placed his palms on the arm rests.

"Guards!" called the Chancellor, as Qui Gon lifted his chair to reveal a hidden door.

"By all means, Chancellor, ask them in!" said Qui Gon quietly as he placed the chair with the quivering Kavos back on the ground.

Three guards rushed into the room and surveyed the mess. Looking over at the calm Qui Gon they were mystified as to what could have occurred.

"Is everything alright, Chancellor?" asked the lead guard. He eyed Qui Gon suspiciously then looked back at the Chancellor.

"Yes, yes, everything is fine," stuttered Kavos. He looked over at Qui Gon, "a very strong gust of wind passed through...it was nothing, please leave."

The guards moved to straighten the furniture.

"Leave now!" screamed Kavos and the men quickly obeyed. Turning back to Qui Gon he could see the Jedi move to the trap door.

"This was none of my doing," said Kavos from his chair, too afraid to move," we had no choice, we would have been left powerless, we are powerless without it."

Qui Gon reached down and pulled the door open, shattered pieces flying across the room. "You might want to rethink your strategy."

"What will you do?" asked Kavos, as Qui Gon climbed down.

He turned and looked at Kavos, his eyes cold.

"I think I will let them decide, don't you think that seems fair?"

He disappeared down the hole leaving Kavos quivering in the decimated office.

"Step away from the door, Vena," said Qui Gon, his blade ignited. She moved to the other side of the cell as the green blade quickly sliced round the door lock.

Within a few moments Qui Gon had freed the others and led them all to the stairs leading to the Chancellor's office.

"You're going after Kenobi, aren't you?" asked Vena sadly. Qui Gon turned to her as he helped another child up the ladder. "It's too late. I felt his sorrow as Dew's passing. They're all dead down there." Her eyes which had been filling with tears now streamed them freely as her ordeal overcame her.

Qui Gon held her for a moment.

"That thing will never hurt anyone ever again," she said quietly, struggling from his hold. She moved to the tunnel leading to the cavern. Qui Gon stopped her and looked into her drying eyes.

"We will go together, Vena, you will need my help and I will need yours."

He led the way down the tunnel.

"How did you find out about all this?" asked Vena.

"The same way you did. By reading the Chancellor's thoughts."

"But I didn't do that, I just seemed to know somehow. I thought it was Dew telling me things in my head like always."

"This was different; in some way Kavos wanted to confess and when you came snooping around, his mind was open to you even if he spoke unclearly. He knew how close you were to the truth so he showed you down here and to explain his curse."

"It's not a curse, it was his choice to continue this charade we all live under."

"Once the power station had taken control there really wasn't anything anyone could have done. Not without help. It had fuelled your homes above from the forest, but my guess is someone or something in that clearing caused it to drain too much living force and it became greedy for more. Suddenly it sensed a new power source, your own people and my guess is it began draining those who worked to maintain its operation. Once they were used up, replacements were needed; this was still not known to be the cause of the workers deaths, but soon it was clear more and more people were being destroyed. Kavos was at least restricting its supply, that's why we were unaware of its presence at first."

"But why was it Kenobi that sensed the trouble first and not you?"

"I haven't worked that out yet. Perhaps because your presence and suspicions were enough to send his mind down the same path your force senses were taking you and his training allowed for more of a connection. Let's find him and ask him"

They moved down the tunnel and Qui Gon could feel the presence now of the hulking machine. And mixed in with the blackness and swirling horror, a pale light of hope could be felt suspended high in the air. Weak, but still fighting, Qui Gon could feel Kenobi's struggle.

Instinctively he opened his link through the force to the young padawan.

"NO!" screamed Kenobi in his head and the door was shut in Qui Gon's mind just as a sickening dizziness had tried to seize him. By closing the link, Kenobi had prevented the machine from accessing Qui Gon's stronger link to the living force.

"Now that's clever." said the machine as Qui Gon and Vena came into the large room.

Towering above them they saw the monster, its eyes glowing red, its claw still holding Kenobi's throat, a flow of white energy clearly visible against the creatures black mass passing between Kenobi and the terrifying monster.

"You are astonishing," it said to Kenobi, who still struggled against the draining flow. He was losing, however, and he could feel the world slipping away from him. The creature sensed this also and the flow stopped.

"That's enough for now. I need you to maintain me against him." The nails of the claw seeped into Kenobi's flesh, crawling through his weakened body. He wasn't strong enough to build any defense this time and soon the icy touch was in control, his aching limbs being moved by cruel hands.

The claw set him down as Qui Gon rushed to severe the cables connecting the machine to the city.

Watching through his eyes but unable to do anything, Kenobi saw his grey hands wrapped around his sabre hilt, which had appeared from nowhere. The creature must have had it concealed somewhere close, anticipating the need for it. Desperately trying to regain some control he tried to force his hands to throw it away. For a moment they shook from indecision, but the icy bite of the creature had been driven deep into his system and Kenobi watched in horror as the blue blade lit up the cavern and his body assumed a defensive stance. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Vena run to her fallen brother.

Qui Gon moved to face Kenobi; the boy looked small, grey and cold. His eyes were dark silver and his face expressionless.

"He is mine now," said the machine, "I will maintain him and he will maintain me. If you destroy me you will destroy him also. We are one and you are nothing."

Kenobi's body sprang into action attacking wildly as Qui Gon. It was quickly apparent to Qui Gon that this consciousness had not absorbed Kenobi completely; Obi Wan was a much more skilled fighter than this. He also noticed that on occasion the limbs would falter from a severe attack, choosing to back off or inexplicably move irrationally away from Qui Gon to avoid hitting him. The fight was still waging inside his padawan.

Qui Gon began to reach out to Kenobi, now briefly but frequently sending out flows of guidance and strength as they exchanged blows, helping Kenobi in his struggle.

The machine watched as the two battled around the cavern, completely unconcerned by Vena's presence. Vena realized how it felt; now it had Kenobi, all other life forms were insignificant to it. It felt it would never need anyone or anything else except the Jedi. She looked down at her dead brother and folded her arms around him. This monster would pay, even if it meant the destruction of the city's only power source, this creature had to be stopped. She took the blaster from his holster and aimed it at the base of the writhing mass.

The shot rang out around the cavern and both Jedi froze as the impact shook the room. Both the monster and Kenobi let out a terrifying scream. Qui Gon was thrown back off his feet by the sound. The monster writhed around and spied Vena preparing to fire a second shot. Kenobi leapt across to her and raised his blade to slice her in two. She could look up into his eyes which had begun to sparkle, was that a blue haze returning to them?

His footing seemed to falter and he let the blade slip through his fingers. Inside his mind Kenobi could feel some control returning to him, thanks to Qui Gon's strength added to his own. He turned to the monster and leapt at its face, he suddenly knew his target with intense revelation. With its arrogance, it had failed to realize that the joining it was attempting had led to Kenobi seeing it's inner workings. The creature was taken aback and tried to tear at the squirming Jedi's flesh, but suddenly felt strong hands pulling and penetrating its protective metal surface.

It felt the bite of Qui Gon's blade as he severed the cables at its base. However, one remained protected by ripples of energy impenetrable by the blade.

Kenobi continued to claw his way inside the monsters mouth, feeling the scrape of the monsters fingers over his tiring body. He finally came to his destination, the main processor. His bleeding fingers stripped away the wires and pulled open the fan casing. This was also protected by the energy field and buzzed with blue light.

Qui Gon reached out with the force to the internal workings of the cable. The flow of the force seemed to shift around him and for a moment he felt the flow being diverted to the creature. He quickly regained control, forcing the monster from his mind and focusing on the internals of the cable. Quickly he pulled apart every wire and link, the energy field quickly dissipating. Inside the head, the processor became exposed and Kenobi tore it from its housing. He threw it down to Vena who stood over it and looked at the writhing mass, the black shroud it had created around itself dissipating rapidly. She lifted her foot and crushed the processor, and then taking the gun she blasted the pieces into a mass of molten metal.

Instantly the lights in the cavern went out and all Vena could hear was the sound of crashing and rumbling around her. She crouched into a ball, waiting for the inevitable piece of debris to fall and crush her. She was fascinated to discover that despite everything, she really didn't want to die and prayed that the noise would stop. The rumbling began to die down and when all was quiet she opened her eyes to the inky blackness.

Qui Gon's blade lit the cavern which was pretty much the same as it had been before the blackout except the vast machine was spread around the cavern base.

He leapt to the fallen Kenobi, partially buried in the machine rubble. Vena rushed over to them. Both Kenobi and Qui Gon were bruised and bloodied from their ordeal. Qui Gon removed Kenobi from the rubble and placed him gently on the cavern floor. He used their link to test for signs of life. In his mind, Kenobi felt the familiar presence of his master.

"It's over, Obi Wan, you're safe, open yourself to the force, heal and rest." His master's voice was soothing and calming. Kenobi opened his mind to the force and let the life force flow through him, bringing him warmth and comfort to his ailing body.

"No more bad dreams," he thought to himself as he allowed his body to rest and heal.


End file.
